Trump Wants Flag Burners to Lose Citizenship

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Donald Trump believes in free speech and that flag-burning should be illegal. In what the Washington Post is calling "Donald Trump v. the First Amendment, part five," the president-elect decried flag-burning in a tweet on Tuesday, noting those guilty of the practice should perhaps spend a year in jail or even lose their US citizenship. "Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag—if they do, there must be consequences," Trump said. Though flag-burning remains controversial, the Supreme Court declared the practice to be a protected form of free speech in 1989 and 1990, reports CNN, which Trump bashed Monday night.

Even conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia—whom Trump has called "one of the best of all time"—believed flag burning should be protected based on a "textual" reading of the First Amendment. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Rep. Sean Duffy expressed similar sentiments Tuesday. A Trump transition rep notes "the President-elect is a very strong supporter of the First Amendment, but there's a big difference between that and burning the American flag." Though flag-burning is legal, Trump's desired punishment is not. A 1958 Supreme Court decision banned the stripping of US citizenship as a criminal penalty, reports Politico. (Read more Donald Trump stories.)

What I don't think all you people on the left realize is that Trump is simply trolling you with this tweet. He is proving to you, through your own hypocrisy, that you stand for nothing but lies. He is proving that the media has ZERO credibility. Here's why... Hillary co-authored a bill when she was a Senator that is almost word-for-word what Trump said. He did this to discredit the media and the left, since they'll prove by their reaction that they are pure and utter hypocrites. This shows you how brilliant Steve Bannon is, since I'm sure this was his idea.

TheJman

Nov 30, 2016 8:17 AM CST

I'm sure 80% of the country agrees with him. While you have the right, it's an insult to everyone and especially those who have fought for freedom. It is refreshing to hear a President elect have passion for the country instead of the eight years of hate for it by the current administration.

noseriously

Nov 30, 2016 3:43 AM CST

Call it hate speech if that makes you feel better. The first amendment does have limitations and while I think the concept of "hate speech" and "hate crimes" are silly it seems to be a concept liberalism likes.